Read more
An award-winning exiled poet remembers his years in prison following the Tiananmen Square protests, describing the brutality he endured for writing the incendiary poem, "Massacre," the humanity he discovered in his fellow cellmates, and the ways in whichhis incarceration reflected key changes in China.
Report
"This vivid and lyrical memoir, a future classic, should have wide appeal as a consummate insider account of Chinese state terror." Publishers Weekly , starred review
"Liao's work is an amazing testament to the people who are battling the Chinese police state ."-- Kirkus Reviews
"The sheer drama of Liao Yiwu's odyssey-from poet to prisoner Number 099 to one of China's most acclaimed writers-in-exile-is matched only by the journey that brought this book to publication. The memoir of his four years in prison is riveting, painful testimony-a vital new chapter in the story of China's rise ." --Evan Osnos, staff writer at The New Yorker
"Courageous and powerful. Unforgettable." --Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans and co-author of Mao: the Unknown Story
" For a Song and a Hundred Songs opens our eyes....[it is] a book of tremendous literary force . The author's linguistic prowess renders it disturbingly cold and invitingly warm, angry and charismatic at once ."--Herta Muller, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature and author of The Hunger Angel
"One of the most original and remarkable Chinese writers of our time." -Philip Gourevitch
"Reading Liao Yiwu's memoir transported me to his world, in a very visceral way. Liao guides us through harrowing scenes, but the narrative is frequently punctuated by poetic moments when art and truth transcend the horrors." -- Alison Klayman, director of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
